Not all thieves are stupid

Thu, 07/19/2012 - 4:03pm

liheungwah

5 years

A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard.

When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in it.. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen.
MOBILE PHONES
I never thought of this.......

This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her mobile phone, credit card, wallet... etc...was stolen.

20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says 'I received your text asking about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago.' When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.
Moral of the lesson:
Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list.

And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.

Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet 'family and friends' who text you..

That can be some scary

That can be some scary stuff. I have had my house broken into before as well. In my case it was a person who I believed was a friend. While in my house one day they unlocked one of the windows, and once I left for work they brought a truck over and cleaned me out. The only reason I discovered who it was is because someone else recognized my TV when they tried to stash it there.

Sad

Makes me recall a similar but not GPS-related incident. A couple got him after work one day and found their house cleaned out. Neighbors had thought they were moving. But these were thieves who came with trucks in their absence (knowing their work schedule). The couple came to a totally empty home.

.

liheungwah wrote:

Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in it.. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen.

You have a bigger problem if you don't know how to go back home.

liheungwah wrote:

And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.

I don't trust everything I see in an email, text or other messaging services especially if it asks me for personal info (banking, social security, login name+password etc).

all the hallmarks

The OP's story has all the hallmarks of an Urban Legend in that nothing in the story can be verified. There are no dates, identifiable locations or anyway to verify the story isn't just that a story meant not to inform but to put fear, uncertainty and doubt (good ol' FUD) into peoples minds. While it does have some words of warning, the way it is presented isn't to inform more than it is meant to scare people. If you do a search of similar "warnings" you will probably find a dozen different variations of the same story.

--"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
-- John F. Kennedy, 35th U.S. president

Those are pretty high performance crooks.

While there are a few things

While there are a few things I'd consider food for thought, as mentioned, the OP is an Urban Legend.

That said, I have a friend who had his car stolen because he dropped the remote control key-fob in a parking lot of the store. I imagine the thief just walked around the lot pressing the lock/unlock button until they happened upon the right car.

No often

soberbyker wrote:

I have a friend who had his car stolen because he dropped the remote control key-fob in a parking lot of the store. I imagine the thief just walked around the lot pressing the lock/unlock button until they happened upon the right car.

.

I'm sure that happens. But not often. The vast majority of keys found are turned in or otherwise returned somehow. Relatively few keys dropped in parking lots are found by crooks.

No doubt

Steevo wrote:

soberbyker wrote:

I have a friend who had his car stolen because he dropped the remote control key-fob in a parking lot of the store. I imagine the thief just walked around the lot pressing the lock/unlock button until they happened upon the right car.

.

I'm sure that happens. But not often. The vast majority of keys found are turned in or otherwise returned somehow. Relatively few keys dropped in parking lots are found by crooks.

Never said it happens often, but I know someone personally that it did happen too, that's all I said.

Got Me Thinking

We never leave our GPS's in our cars so no information there.
Only my wifes car gets parked in the garage, she has a garage door opener on the sun visor.

The only document that has our address on it in the car is the insurance card. If a thief steals the car he now has our address & gargae opener.

She has two options, keep the garage opener in her pocketbook, or the insurance card. I sometimes drive her car so having the insurance card in her pocketbook would not be practical since I know I'll forget to ask for it. With my luck that's the day I have an accident and get summoned for no proof of insurance.

GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard

The problem here wasn't the things stated, it was leaving the GPS in the car, no matter if prominently mounted on the dashboard or "cleverly hidden" in the glove box or under the seat where "the thief would never look for it". Of course, as has been discussed many times, just the G.D. opener which is left in the car is likely enough, as there will be some piece of paperwork in most cars the give the home address (registration, insurance card, even a stray piece of mail) and a thief can just plug the address into his own GPS to find the house, bypassing Garmin lock or those who make their own life difficult by being "clever" and putting the home location miles away in a corn field. (Turning on the track log will also draw a blue route that can easily be used to find the house no matter where you lied about home being).

Anyone can be a victim of such a crime, but it was the GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard and not taken out of the car that likely targeted this car. Once they broke in and found the g.d. opener, the thieves would have likely headed for the house no matter if the GPS was "locked" or if it lied about the home location. The true moral here is don't leave your GPS in the car, not to play silly games with the info in it as if that is in any way going to help you.

Give-away circle on the windshield

Frovingslosh wrote:

The problem here wasn't the things stated, it was leaving the GPS in the car, no matter if prominently mounted on the dashboard or "cleverly hidden" in the glove box or under the seat where "the thief would never look for it".

Even if it was hidden in the car, I wonder if there would have been a tell-tail circle on the windshield.

Dang circles

David King wrote:

Frovingslosh wrote:

The problem here wasn't the things stated, it was leaving the GPS in the car, no matter if prominently mounted on the dashboard or "cleverly hidden" in the glove box or under the seat where "the thief would never look for it".

Even if it was hidden in the car, I wonder if there would have been a tell-tail circle on the windshield.

I always clean my windshield after using the GPS (and radar) to remove the circles. Have to get rid any indication that I have anything worth stealing. It is a pain, but easier than finding a window shop in an unfamiliar city.

Have you considered . . .

shrifty wrote:

I always clean my windshield after using the GPS (and radar) to remove the circles. Have to get rid any indication that I have anything worth stealing. It is a pain, but easier than finding a window shop in an unfamiliar city.

How about using the bean bag dash top mount? No need to carry around Windex.

Not really

bramfrank wrote:

shrifty wrote:

I always clean my windshield after using the GPS (and radar) to remove the circles. Have to get rid any indication that I have anything worth stealing. It is a pain, but easier than finding a window shop in an unfamiliar city.

How about using the bean bag dash top mount? No need to carry around Windex.

I haven't really considered it, I wouldn't be able to mount the GPS as low as I can with the windshield mount (GPS rests on the dash currently with the windshield mount). I also don't think the beanbag mount would stay in one place for long, depending on which roads I'm on and how quick I may take some curves. I think it would end up on the floor after a few turns

If I wiped the suction cup

If I wiped the suction cup marks off my windshield that would be the only clean place on the windshield! Thieves would see a couple of suction cup size clear areas.
The home advice is good, I warned my brother to set his to the gas station on the corner by his house when he got one for Christmas last year.

Invisable Dang Circles

shrifty wrote:

I always clean my windshield after ...

Yea, the circle is an invite to break-in, even if you take the GPS (thieves may think you are one of those clever people who hide it under the seat). But I find that if you mount the suction cup high in the tinted section of the windshield that the circle can't be spotted from the outside (heck, it is even hard to spot the GPS from the front when it is there, although it is still clearly seen from the side windows). And it is closer to reach, easier to see (unless you're far-sighted) and doesn't block any important part of the view (unless you're being abducted by a UFO). And if you wrap the power cord once around the rear view mirror shaft it will protect the GPS if the suction cup does lose its grip,

Movie theaters

I saw the news a while back and there has been a rash of crimes in the seattle area. While people are in the movies they break into the car and get the registration, they use it for the address and go rob the house cause they know how long they will be away from home.

you warned him poorly

nrbovee wrote:

I warned my brother to set his to the gas station on the corner by his house when he got one for Christmas last year.

If the track log is enabled there will be a lot of blue lines leading right to the house, and it should be obvious which house it is. If the track log is disabled then just enabling it will show the lines, the data is stored even if the log is not displayed. But is is so handy in several ways that I want mine enabled all of the time. And, as mentioned elsewhere, registration, insurance or any other paperwork or mail in the car can reveal the address, so a warning to play foolish games with the home setting is poor advice. You could have done better by just warning him to not leave the GPS in the car.

Try the newer model, then ?

shrifty wrote:

bramfrank wrote:

shrifty wrote:

I always clean my windshield after using the GPS (and radar) to remove the circles. Have to get rid any indication that I have anything worth stealing. It is a pain, but easier than finding a window shop in an unfamiliar city.

How about using the bean bag dash top mount? No need to carry around Windex.

I haven't really considered it, I wouldn't be able to mount the GPS as low as I can with the windshield mount (GPS rests on the dash currently with the windshield mount). I also don't think the beanbag mount would stay in one place for long, depending on which roads I'm on and how quick I may take some curves. I think it would end up on the floor after a few turns

It folds for easy storage, and has an anti-skid base. It worked fine for a few years in my 4x4, driving on the difficult roads of Corsica... I have a new car now, and haven't been back to Corsica yet - but our daughter's got one too now, and she's one "nervous" lady at the wheel !

--Ain't nuthin' never just right to do the things you wanna do when you wanna do them, so you best just go ahead and do them anyway ! (Rancid Crabtree, from Pat F McManus fame)

Yowzer

I guess you'd be surprised ...

shrifty wrote:

bramfrank wrote:

shrifty wrote:

I always clean my windshield after using the GPS (and radar) to remove the circles. Have to get rid any indication that I have anything worth stealing. It is a pain, but easier than finding a window shop in an unfamiliar city.

How about using the bean bag dash top mount? No need to carry around Windex.

I haven't really considered it, I wouldn't be able to mount the GPS as low as I can with the windshield mount (GPS rests on the dash currently with the windshield mount). I also don't think the beanbag mount would stay in one place for long, depending on which roads I'm on and how quick I may take some curves. I think it would end up on the floor after a few turns

I used the bean bag for years in both my car and dump truck, now if you want to talk about a bumpy ride, it's off road in the dump, bean bag never moved in my car and only once in a while in the dump.

I have since changed to using the suction cup on the disk which is Velcro'd to the dashboard in the dump.